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Remy Ma has been busy! What with alledgedly shotting a friend (google it yourself), releasing her long-awaited blasphemous mixtape "Shesus Khryst" (because 'if Jay-Z's Jay-hova and Nas is God's Son, and i was spitting crack to the people and died son, then came back like i never left nice, then i'm the BX saviour, Shesus Khryst') nad a 'new album' - The BX Files.

First Up: Shesus Khryst

Well, a little disappointing - Remy seems to be on autopilot through the first tracks. We all know she can be amazing - razor sharp, aggressive, witty - but even 'Fuck The Weatherman', her Fat Joe diss, doesn't go as hard as it could, and seems to be just coasting along. There's good stuff though, the first track (apart from 'Jump' and 'Fresh', which i knew already) to catch my attention is 'Pick The Money Up' feat. Storm P. Storm P. is wack, but the beat bangs and clatters against some trilling hammond organs, and the hook ('I said ooooh/look what i found/somebody made it rain/it's all on the ground - [creepy chipmunk voice] girl, don't just stand there pick the money up baby, don't just stand there pick the money up baby') is appealingly faux-niave. And Remy sounds switched on at last.
Remy & Papoose's remix of 'Stuntin' (Like My Daddy)' is included, which i great, cos i have a had a really low quality mp3 of this which wasn't cutting it. Our girl rides the beat so well here, even though i am indifferent/bordering on annoyed by Papoose. And you already know how good that beat is.
Remy & Jacki-O's remix of 'Whip Game Proper', retitled 'Pussywhip Game' has been on her myspace for awhile, and although it has mixtape host Superstar Jay shouting over the beginning (surely one of the most annoying hosts alive) it's good to own a copy. Jacki gets points for beginning her verse with 'banana nana bo bana', but her whole verse is actually fire, as is Remy's, especially with the hardcore descriptions of her ejaculations, she's like a ghetto Annie Sprinkle!

Remy Ma feat. Storm P - Pick The Money Up
Remy Ma feat. Papoose - Stuntin'
Remy Ma feat. Jacki-O - Pussywhip Game



And then the 'new album' The BX Files. I heard about this one through allhiphop.com, but i didn't believe it at first, because Remy has made no mention of the thing. As Far as I knew she was working on PUNISHher, which 'Fresh and 'Jump' were supposed to be off. But, lo and behold, i found it, it's on amazon and everything. I heard it referred to as 'the album before the album', which i guess makes it make more sense.

So how is it? Well, it's ok - it's a hotch potch of tracks - some new-ish, some i've had for years, some where she says she's 21 - that was 5 years ago! There's good stuff - 'No Bet Chill' is a great example of her snotty appeal, 'Tek 9' feat. Murda Mook works an Eazy E sample and a 'Touch It'-esque banger beat, 'So Hot' shows her aptitude on old school beats and 'Loadin' Clipz' feat. Maino makes use of great horn stabs. But it's such a thrown together thing - several songs even have her still repping Terror Squad, and Joey Crack - You can't market that as a proper new album. But it's all music, so never mind

Remy Ma - No Bet Chill
Remy Ma feat. Murda Mook - Tek 9
Remy Ma feat. Maino - Loadin' Clipz

Buy The BX Files at www.amazon.com

Ain't no Party Till X Hits the party

Xtaci = Bola & Sunshine, though i didn't realise this until relatively recently. I thought it was one girl who just had a slightly inconsistant cadence. But i think Xtaci is the best name ever EVER. There is something so aesthetically pleasing about it, it's kind of dynamic and exotic and lean and xciting. They are wicked also, kind of Salt-N-Pepa/L'Trimm girl rap but with a really substantial hood update. They are solid crack in the shape of a giant X. Check out these few tracks -

Xtaci - If U Really Want That

This song is one of my all time favourites really, the beat is insane - i love the strata, where the beat kicks in for the opening chorus, but then kicks in again on a whole 'nother level for the first verse - absolute bass murder - and the girls are so on top of the flow. check out the second verse's opening, a rare perfect synergy of word and bang:

God DAMN, what they say when I step up in the room
Bitch, I bloom like a flower on a Sunday afternoon
(in late June)

not to mention the way "X T A C I nigga get right" hits every beat on the way down.

Xtaci - You Don't (feat. Bohagon)

The beat is crazy here, absolute southern smoke/comfort/other good thing. The bubbles of toms are so propulsive, and the melody is monstrous. swinging head music again, like Romy & Michelle.


The girls are signed to Grand Hustle - T.I.'s record label, but they ain't released an album yet. "X and The City" was what was supposed to be released, but i can't find it anywhere - but check out their myspace

Queen Of The Dirty Third

Raw'LT - three amazing tracks.

Raw'LT - Get It From My Mama

Raw'LT - Both Wayz (feat. Lil' Boosie)

Raw'LT - Boy Shorts

I seduce them without even a touch

myspace

Houston, Texas

Also, this is a video for Billy Cook 'Missing You' feat. Raw'LT. it is slightly histronic, but pretty good all things considered. They even kiss! gross. and check out the Lost highway half way through, and the awesome figurine of man clutching a womans midriff on their mantlepiece, and the way she hoiks up that dog, and her oily legs, and the Benny Hill quality at the end. But then the last shot of her face is really beautiful

BILLY COOK"MISSING YOU" FEAT RAW'LT

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City of Hustlers

Infamous Syndicate were a female duo from Chicago, and released their sole album, Changing The Game in 1999. I think they had some commercial success with the single 'Jenny Jonez', but I'm much too young to have had any awareness of that. There most notable these days for being the starting place of Rashawnna "Shawnna" Guy, who of course is one of my favourite MC's (see below), but her partner, Lateefa "Teefa" Harland is also doing good stuff these days, albeit on a smaller level.

I picked up the album in Amoeba Records, Haight Street, San Francisco last time i was out there, two years ago. I wish to god i had been more on the ball and just bought every female album i could find, but i didn't sadly. I knew of Infamous Syndicate though, and was pretty excited when i found it.

The album's a mixed bag, with some of the tracks sounding just too insubstantial and/or generic late 90's for me. But actually, about half the album keeps an impressive standard up. The opening "Here I Go" is biting, laced, as with tracks on Shawnna's solo albums, with some Buddy Guy guitar. The MC's voices make a nice contrast, with Teefa's higer girlish tone next to Shawnna's familiarly deep and raw one. Top of the pile are:

Infamous Syndicate - What You Do To Me (feat. Kanye West)

Yes, Kanye West in 1999! Ahead of the curve. He produces this track, and it's beautiful, a bittersweet trilling guitar, and soft waves of electric piano. It features Teefa and Kanye alone, exchanging battle of the sexes rhymes on the theme of illicit relations. Exciting! I don't much care for Kanye on this - His style has matured in the years since it was made, and there's an uncomfortable misogynistic edge to his lines (though obviously not as bad as some). But Teefa is one hand to cut him down to size on the third verse, cutting him off like so:

I knew since the day i met you if i would fuck you or not
so later on i asked my girl how many bitches you got
i never loved you a lot
but then this nigga got turned out
he told his boy, they told his boy and now the words out
...
I swear y'all, better keep the game on 'em
yeah, y'all, now watch me change on him
rule 1: never tell your nigga who you fuck
and always smile back if he tell you he in love
rule 2: most men try to control you
take my advice cos it's so true what women go through
rule 3: you think he don't cheat and he committed
he still get invitations from the last girl he been with
let this ho get mad i bet she'll tell you that he hit it
Just check inside his pocket's find another bitches digits...

Infamous Syndicate - It's Alright

This one has both the girls and the kinda of blissed out summery beat that's a joy to listen to. No more to say.

BONUS!!!!

Check out this remix of Shawnna's 'Gettin' Some Head', featuring Teefa, an Infamous Syndicate reuinion

Shawnna - Gettin' Some Head (Remix feat. Teefa)

and to see what Teefa's doing now(ish), check out this track from a couple years back, produced by Vudu. I love this track, she's witty as a mother on this

Teefa - Jangalang

check out Teefa's website, it's got some wicked tracks off her new album, which i will be buying SOON and reporting back on



Buy Changing The Game from www.amazon.co.uk

Freestyles

A little spicy jumbalaya of freestyles and mixtape tracks, dig in, it's steamin' hot!

Remy Ma - Freestyle (from DJ Clue - Clue Vinci Code)
Remy Ma - Hip Hop's Revival
Shawnna - Still Tippin Freestyle (From DJ Ideal - DTP: The Mixtape)
Xtaci - Freestyle
Jean Grae - Tea & Beer (from Hurricane Jean - The Jeanius Strikes Back)
Hedonis Da Amazon - Black Republican Freestyle
Shystie - Basketball Freestyle (from Grand Theft Audio)
Sonja Blade - Drop It Like It's Hot Freestyle
Shawnna - Freestyle (from DJ Ideal - DTP: The Mixtape)
Shawnna - The Potion Freestyle (from DJ Ideal - DTP: The Mixtape)

BANG

Shawnna's sophomore album on (Ludacris' label) DTP, Block Music, didn't do nearly as well as it should, and now she has left the label and is going independant. But it should be pointed out that at least half of Block Music, maybe more, is amazing.

I remember hearing "Gettin' Some Head" for the first time, listening to it on my iPod on the bus to College. We were passing through Matlock, glamourous Matlock, when the second verse kicked in, and the last syllable of every line was drawn out into a honeyed drawl, and i thought 'she's stepping up her game'. It was so exciting to hear her pushing her style in new directions, and Block Music proved her to be one of the most stylistically experimental MC's going. oh yah.

Shawnna - Block Music feat. I-20

Witness the slathers of bass rubbed all over this track, the beat that clacks, flaps and pops like a geyser. Block Music's first 5 songs totally raised the bar in terms of ice cold crack music and electrifying flows, and Shawnna's imperious on this one, delivering one-liners like this:

i keep my O's straight in order like it's tick tack toe
and I'm x-ing out any nigga with a bitch ass flow

ouch, i know.

Shawnna - Candy Coated feat. 8Ball & MJG

This beat is literally pure evil. Simultaneously menacing and nauseous, the strings flail about, providing the kind of terrifying atmosphere you just don't associate with commercial hip-hop. The beat bangs relentlessly, and the sampled chorus, 'candy coated paint, got the bitches at the bus stop, sick, but at the same time...' seems so incongruous against the musical background, that you've just got to go fucking mental and stop thinking about incongruity. Shawnna is deadly on this one, first interacting with the sample like Kanye and Rhymefest on "Brand New", then after 8Ball & MJG's second verse, ripping the track the fuck up with lethal doubletime spitting. When you hear a song like this, you just think, why drop her (assuming she was dropped, and did not leave)? OK, she didn't sell a huge amount, but she's clearly as good as any of her peers, and clearly pushing the envelope so BAD! But then, i'm not a CEO, if i was i would have a roster full of talented MC's selling nothing and then i would go bankrupt. But that's the crux of commercial hip hop, if you're not selling, then you're not successful (from the artists viewpoint as well as the labels), whereas in other genres, it's acceptable to be unsuccessful as long as your good. Oh well, c'est la vie de la rue. You need to get that money.

Shawnna - Can't Break Me feat. Shareefa & Buddy Guy

After the opening salvo of bangers, there's a trio of more laidback r'n'b-ish tracks, which are of a high standard themselves. This one stands out though, for the tension and anger in Shawnna's flow that increases even as the song goes along, contrasting with (Shawnna's father and electric blues legend) Buddy Guy's fluid guitar licks and Shareefa's sweet hook.

Sadly, the album tails off towards the end slightly (though the Mandy Moore sampling "Chicago" is a highlight. Really.), and listening to her preceding mixtape, Block Music: The Mixtape, hosted by Clinton Sparks, you can't help think some of these bangers could off beefed up the album proper. Like so:

Shawnna - Chicago Shit feat. Kanye West
Shawnna - Gangsta Shit (Bust Ya Guns) feat. Rick Ross

You know, i really hope that Shawnna does it now she's gone independant. I really hope she gets in some good producers and DOES IT, because she's too good to disappear like so many sidekick female rappers before (remember Amil?).

BONUS!!

check that second verse i talked about, c.l.a.s.s.i.c.



Buy Block Music from www.amazon.co.uk

I Am The Lady Tigra

So you all remember L'Trimm right? "We like the cars, the cars that go boom"? Yeah, they were fire, cute, snotty and banging. And you know electro is huge, right? and you know Uffie, this white girl from Miami, is a blog superstar? And she totally jacks the steez of all those 80's girl rappers?

Well guess what, Lady Tigra (one half of L'Trimm) is back, and she's got her foot firmly up asses!

Rather than try to integrate into modern hip hop, like so many of her contempories, Tigra hung back and is now ripping electro a new hole.

Seriously, i can't tell you how excited i am to see someone who was there when it started come back and kick the renaissance's ass. and she does.

The Lady Tigra - Bass On The Bottom

The mp3 is courtesy of Tigra's own website, www.theladytigra.com, which is 100% worth checking out, especially for the awesome music video for the "Bass On The Bottom" Remix. Beautiful design as well.

BONUS!!!

First time around

It's Rage

The Lady Of Rage - Breakdown

Throwing you back to some old school shit, 1997 style. Snoop Dogg's right hand woman The Lady Of Rage's album Necessary Roughness is hit and miss, but there are some wicked tunes on it, like this one. Rage is definately a lyricist, all her verses seemed to be flushed with the love of language and twisting it around. This music makes me feel all warm and L.A. ish on these dismal summer days.

Buy Necessary Roughness at www.amazon.co.uk

i love how amazon calls it Nothing Roughness, just read the fucking cover you douches.

(Relatively) Recent posse Remixes

A couple of all girl remixes i couldn't fail to put up, obv.



DJ Lazy K with Trina, Jacki-O & Remy Ma - We Takin' Over (Remix)

On the heels of Dj Khaled's original featuring T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Akon & Lil' Wayne (is that all of them? i lose track) came this superior remix. Okay, it had to be superior becuase it's girls, but still, Lil' Mo fleshes out Akon's strained hook (although sacrificing the portentous 'one city at a time' that follows the title) and all three rappers give sterling performances. Remy, especially, following Weezy's rhyme pattern from the original, tears her verse a new hole:

See the girl hot i sets it on fire,
i write more than your ghostwriter
ma you ain't hard, you're a 'gina
you're a fun thug, you're not a fighter,
mic check, mic check, you're a biter
you memorise well, you're a good reciter, see
the clock tick tick now it's my timer
I'm the best female rhymer, yeah!

ouch.

(Also, why on earth was the original a DJ Khaled song? I'm no stickler for authorship or authenticity, but didn't Danjahands produce it, the rappers (and Akon) do the vocals... all Khaled did was say "lissseN!" and i can do that, look: "lissseN!". can i have the anthem of the summer now?)



Crime Mob - Rock Ya Hips Remix feat. Mac Bre-Z, Rasheeda, Gangsta Boo & Miss B

This is another remix i think is superior to the original, partly because it gets rid of the male Mob members, and partly because it's got six female rappers firing out in quick succession to devasting effect. The switch up in styles is really refreshing here, from Mac Bre-Z's measured boasting to Diamond's stream of bubblegum references to Rasheeda's inimitable flow to Princess's bar-based swagger to Gangsta Boo's deep voiced summary of all the catchphrases she can find (good thing) to Miss B's acidic flow. It's all business, baby, e'rythang cool.

Flawsin'

So Rasheeda's new album is out! Yay, for those of us who copped her last one, the mighty Georgia Peach. But boooo, also, because no less than 10 tracks have been heard before, including 8 from Georgia Peach. But after my disappointment, i read a few interviews, and her reasoning, that the previous album had bad distribution and wasn't widely available, seems fair enough (though i live in rural England and i got it). So i concentrated on the new tracks, and luckily found they keep the standard going! The remix of 'My Bubble Gum' is notable for a scorching double time verse from Diamond of Crime Mob, 'Holla At Me' featuring Birdman and Jazze Pha, bounces along on candy coloured horn blasts, and 'Never Wanna Leave' with Kandi works Rasheeda's laid back charm to the max.

Rasheeda - Flawsin'

But top of the pile is 'Flawsin', produced by Dream. Rasheeda's flow is one of the strangest and most distinctive of any rapper i've heard, with the weird see-sawing cadence and angular rhythms, which of course makes her amazing. She demonstrates it perfectly here, over flanging synths and tight staccato stabs, with a stunning first verse, which you just got to listen to. Favourite moments though: the clipped last syllable of echoed "Throw some D's one that bitch!" at 1.01, and

where you get it from?
Donnatella on the tella-phon!

at 1.22. and the second verse is a masterclass in '-izz-' rhyming.

I was sitting on the bus today thinking that if only people realised, this could be a big hit. Like With Georgia Peach, i find it amazing that in the world of commercial hip hop someone can be making such a high standard of music without being that successful. But then maybe that will change...

BONUS!!

The cracking video for My Bubble Gum/U Can Get It. She's so laid back, check out the in-car dance moves:



Buy Dat Type Of Gurl at www.amazon.co.uk

Introduction

Well, that's the end of that.

I've been trying to think of a way to express my love for/thoughts on/criticism of female hip hop for while, and here it is. Let's start with a few classics shall we?



Lil' Kim - Drugs

Circa 1996, big nose, nice lips era Kim. I know most of Hardcore was ghost written by Biggie, but I don't care, because it was awesome. Witness this cut, graceful guitar trills and swoops courtesy of Sylvester's recording of 'Bumpies Lament' (which i still can't find), martial snares and super tight kick drums. A more subtle and atmospheric banger there has never been. Plus Kim's flow, still deep and rough, following Mr. Wallace's twisting rhythms and rhyme schemes, is at it's best, even if she does say

Inhale this, clench your fist, the ya,
feel the mist through the uterus

which makes no sense. But still, it sounds wicked.

Buy Hardcore from www.amazon.co.uk



Remy Ma - Tight

A relatively recent track from the underappreciated There's Something About Remy: Based On A True Story, it's fiiiire. Cool & Dre's beat swings around like Lisa Kudrow in that scene on the trailer for Romy And Michelle's High School Reunion, glistening synths strafing wildly over a tight boom clap. But this ain't Romy & Michelle, this is Remy and Joey Crack (before that unpleasant business; not that i mind, Joe's head looks like a squashed baby's, she's better off without him). Worth the price of admission for Remy's

Ain't no body fucking with me, me me me me me me

No one does insousciant arrogance like Rem.

Buy There's Something About Remy: Based On A True Story from www.amazon.co.uk



The Herbaliser feat. Jean Grae - Nah' Mean, Nah'm' Sayin'

Just to prove I'm underground too, though i don't know how underground Jean Grae is these days. Regardless, she is my overall favourite rapper ever. And this track pits evil horns against a veritable onslaught of killer puns, of which i will list only a few:

Jean catches felonies on a melody, hella killer,
Do this shit with my eyes closed, like Helen Keller

I'm unabased, i mean unabashed, sorry the tongue wasn't placed right,
but i covered it late, like a rubber on date night

And well just listen to the damn track to hear the rest.

Buy Take London from www.amazon.co.uk